Once you have completed a successful house/pet sit it can be a natural next step to be asked for the homeowners to ask you to a Return Housesit.  You move on in life, richer for the experience and the relationships you’ve formed with the owners.  Often though, you have become attached to the pets.

We have recently discovered that once you’ve completed a successful sit, your name gets added to the owner’s contacts for future reference.  For a pet owner, it makes sense.  They now know beyond doubt that they can trust you.  Should they ever require a sitter again you’ll be first at the top of their list. An easy ‘yes’ from you saves an owner shopping around for new reliable house sitters. It can make a lot of sense.

We have been in the house and pet sitting business for almost a year.  We’ve noticed a trend.  After Christmas, people start planning their holidays for the coming year.  If you’re a good house and pet sitter, your phone will start to ring and e-mails will appear in your inbox from past clients, for lack of a better word.

I suppose we are good at what we do.  We’re a decent couple who look after homes and pets with care.  We genuinely connect with animals whether they be cats and dogs, or birds and horses.  We are level headed with a lot of  life experience which has been an asset. Owners we have been involved with appreciate that of us. They know we can be trusted and counted on.

So we’ve received several invitations this year for return sits.

Return HouseSit in Yorkshire

There are two particular experiences which we originally landed through Housesit Match that we truly enjoyed.  One in Oxfordshire and the other in Yorkshire.  Both beautiful, comfortable homes with fantastic owners and truly wonderful pets. Of course, this is also the time of year when we also look ahead and plan what we might get up to as travelers over the next several months.

The return sit in Yorkshire fit perfectly into our calendar. At the time we were asked about returning, we knew we’d be in nearby Liverpool which was convenient. And the dates fit perfectly into a gap in our schedule. It seemed as if it was meant to be, so we jumped at the opportunity to return to our big beautiful Akita friend.

This time around, we were familiar with the small city from our previous stay.  We knew the house and we easily reconnected with the dog. Some neighbours even recognised us.  There was a lovely familiarity to the whole experience.  We weren’t ‘breaking new ground’ but it was nice to know we would be somewhere comfortable for a while. No nasty surprises.

If there’s one thing we have learned being house and pet sitters, there is the occasional surprise.  And not necessarily happy surprises. So we were thrilled we could fit this particular pet sitting assignment into our schedule. The owners even hinted at having us again. Hopefully the stars will line up for that.

Return HouseSit In Oxfordshire

As for the other house and pet sit in Oxfordshire, we had to pass. It would have been nice to be able to return. It’s been one of our favorite experiences due to the dog, cat and chickens, not to mention the location. The problem is we had one single item scheduled in our summer calendar.  We had committed to being in Dublin for the first couple of weeks of August to teach English.  And these folks were requiring a sitter from the end of July to mid-August. Almost the exact dates we were to be in Dublin.

We have done many house and pet sits in the past year. Each one successful. Although we don’t want to constantly retrace our steps, it’s nice to know that home owners think highly enough of us to ask us to come back.  A job well done could mean a return engagement. We’ll need to start looking at the Italian Riviera for house and pet sits!

Take a look at our Housesit Match profile. Regardless whether you’re in Nepal or Spain, if you need a house and pet sitter, we get around a fair bit so we just might be in your neighbourhood.

To find your housesitting solution register with HouseSitMatch:

To Register as a House-Sitter yourself for housesitting and pet sitting follow this link HOUSE-SITTER REGISTRATION

To Register as a Homeowner yourself follow this link HOMEOWNER REGISTRATION